The Air Force’s New 12-Week Parental Leave Policy: Here’s How it Works

Jan. 9, 2023 | By Greg Hadley

Airmen and Guardians may now take up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave under the Pentagon’s new Military Parental Leave Program (MPLP).

Authorized by Congress in the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, policy details were released Jan. 4, retroactive to Dec. 27, 2022. The new policy covers births, adoptions, and long-term care requirements for new foster children.

Airmen and Guardians who exhausted available parental leave under the old policy prior to Dec. 27 are not eligible to take the longer leave; but any parent with unused or unforfeited parental leave as of Dec. 27 is now able to extend to the new 12-week standard.

Under the prior policy, in place since 2018, a new child’s primary caregiver could take an additional six weeks of leave after convalescent leave, while the secondary caregiver could take three weeks.

The new leave policy doesn’t put a specific timeframe on convalescent leave, instead leaving it up to the recommendation of the birth parent’s health care provider “to address a diagnosed medical condition.” Convalescent leave begins the day after the new child’s birth, or after the birth parent is discharged from the hospital, whichever is later.

After that, both primary and secondary caregivers have a year to take their 12 weeks of leave, which may be taken in increments of seven or more days, and need not be taken all at once.

The 2022 NDAA mandating the new 12-week policy called for the Pentagon to implement the policy within a year of the law taking effect, putting the deadline at Dec. 27, 2022. That’s why, after initially missing that date, DOD made the policy retroactive.

As long as a service member had unused caregiver leave as of Dec. 27, they’ll be allowed to take the full 12 weeks of leave. So if an Airman had completed two weeks of secondary caregiver leave as Dec. 27, leaving one week under the old policy, he or she is now eligible for an additional nine weeks, bringing the total leave to 12 weeks.

Similarly, a Guardian who had taken five weeks of primary caregiver leave as of Dec. 27, leaving one week to go before returning to work, is now be eligible for an additional six weeks, again for a total of 12 .

Airmen and Guardians who returned to work before Dec. 27 and gave up parental leave will not get a reprieve. Having forfeited parental leave under the previous policy there is no chance now to gain the added time off.

Meanwhile, any Airman or Guardian in the middle of their six weeks of convalescent leave authorized under the previous policy will be allowed to finish that leave and then take 12 weeks of parental leave.

While the services require all leave be taken within 12 months of a birth, adoption, or foster child placement, members deployed for military operations can defer parental leave until their deployment is completed.

To request leave under the new policy, Airmen and Guardians must use LeaveWeb, which was updated Jan. 6, or AF Form 988. Separate requests are now necessary for convalescent and parental leave, as they are now treated as distinct and separate events.

For more details, read the full Department of the Air Force Guidance Memorandum, or this rundown of frequently asked questions.

Advocates say the new leave policy will help the Pentagon retain and attract talent amid a historically competitive job market, putting military parental leave policies more in line with the rest of the federal government and making them arguably more generous than most private employers.

No More Tape Test: Air Force Announces New Body Composition Program

Jan. 9, 2023 | By Greg Hadley

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 11 a.m. Jan. 10 with additional information from the Air Force.

Goodbye tape test, hello waist-height ratio.

The Department of the Air Force unveiled its new body composition program Jan. 9, more than two years after dropping the unpopular abdominal circumference measurements from fitness assessments. Now, instead of getting a point total based on waist measurements, Airmen and Guardians will divide their waist by their height in inches. For example, an Airman who stands 69 inches tall and has a waist of 36 inches would have a waist-to-height ratio of 0.52.

According to a DAF release, any ratio below 0.55 is deemed a low or moderate risk, meeting the standard. Ratios equal to or above 0.55 will be considered a high risk and out of standard.

When waist-to-height ratio scoring chart first leaked online in February 2022, it showed 0.55 ratios and above to be high risk. The Air Force surgeon general’s office said that chart was “pre-decisional.” That chart also noted a difference between low- and moderate-risk ratios, while the DAF release did not define the distinction.

The leaked chart also showed a narrow range of scores—below a ratio of 0.40—that were not given a designation of low, moderate, or high risk. In order to have such a ratio, a service member would have to be relatively tall with a very small waist. An Air Force spokeswoman said there would be no high-risk designation for very low waist-height ratios.

For service members deemed high risk, a yearlong “informal, self-directed Body Composition Improvement Program” is in store, including a referral for medical evaluation and “assessment for additional risk factors.” There are are no disciplinary implications during this period, the Air Force said, but if the member is still not meeting standards after a year, a mandatory formal self-directed program will be imposed.

“That may result in consideration for administrative action, including separation for continued failures,” according to the Air Force release.

“The goal of the new program is to empower Airmen to take charge of their health and fitness through lifestyle enhancement to optimize readiness,” said Lt. Gen. Caroline Miller, deputy chief of staff for manpower, personnel, and services, in a statement.

In the Space Force, high-risk Guardians will be referred to Guardian Resilience Teams, including “human performance subject matter experts with different specialties,” such as preventive care, performance optimization, mental health care, and spiritual assistance. This policy follows the Space Force’s holistic health program, which includes a fitness program without annual tests.

The Air Force stopped using waist measurements as part of its fitness test in 2020, amidst the pause in PT testing at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The department noted at the time, however, that Pentagon policy still required the recording of body composition. In November 2021, the Air Force surgeon general settled on waist-to-height ratio as the service’s new measurement method, and in March 2022, DOD changed its policy to give the services more latitude in measuring body composition.

Critics of the old waist measurements said the measurement was a simplistic means of guessing at individuals’ bodyfat percentage. Body builders in particular suffered under a system in which they could excel in the tests only to be suspect based on the measuring tape. The new body composition program is separate from the PT tests, erasing that connection.

The new assessments will begin in April.

CSIS Simulation Offers a Rare Look at US-China Clash over Taiwan and the World of Wargaming

Jan. 9, 2023 | By Chris Gordon

The U.S. could take thousands of casualties but in most cases would ultimately prevail: These were the conclusions drawn from a series of 24 wargames run by the Center for Strategic and International Studies that assessed a scenario in which China attempted an amphibious invasion of Taiwan in 2026.

Wargames are a common way for civilian and military decision-makers to test out strategies or plan for conflict. Often, they are highly classified and their conclusions, methodologies, and assumptions are never publicly explained in detail.

But as Taiwan has emerged as a point of major contention between Washington and Beijing, CSIS took the unusual step of releasing its findings and methodology.

“Classified wargames are not transparent to the public,” an executive summary of the exercise published by CSIS states. “Without a suitable analysis, public debate will remain unanchored.”

The series of wargames, funded by the Smith Richardson Foundation, explored a variety of scenarios with different participants. The rules for the wargames were based on historical data and research, including theoretical weapons performance.

As Beijing has built up its forces and sought to coerce the self-governing island of Taiwan to unite with mainland China, U.S. lawmakers, officials, and observers’ concerns about a military conflict in the Indo-Pacific have grown. The Department of Defense cites China as its “pacing” challenge in its new National Defense Strategy. But how a war over Taiwan might be fought by the U.S. military has been unclear.

Pentagon wargames that influence policy and shape military strategy draw on intelligence assessments and non-public data, such as high-resolution imagery and classified information about the specifications of U.S., allied, and the adversary’s equipment. But CSIS’s report notes classified wargames’ “assumptions and even results are not transparent to the public.”

“Probably the most significant thing is that they did the wargame in an unclassified format,” retired USAF Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula, dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies and one of the wargames’ participants, said. “It allows for open discourse and dialogue on some of the consequences as a result of the game which normally don’t get discussed because it’s all done behind the cloak of classification.”

The 24 game iterations presented sobering findings: high attrition of forces on both sides, massive U.S. surface ship and aircraft losses, and quick exhaustion of long-range precision-guided munitions. Attacks on U.S. forces based in Japan could quickly draw the Japanese into the conflict.

“In most scenarios, the United States/Taiwan/Japan defeated a conventional amphibious invasion by China and maintained an autonomous Taiwan. However, this defense came at high cost,” authors Mark Cancian, Matthew Cancian, and Eric Heginbotham write in CSIS’s report. “The United States and its allies lost dozens of ships, hundreds of aircraft, and tens of thousands of service members. Taiwan saw its economy devastated. Further, the high losses damaged the U.S. global position for many years.”

According to a 2022 Pew Research Center Poll, 86 percent of Americans view China’s military power as either a “somewhat serious” or “very serious” problem. Eight-two percent felt the same way about tensions between Taiwan and China.

But there is little in the public domain about what a conflict with China might entail, including its potential toll in blood and treasure to the U.S.

“Is the United States ready as a nation to accept losses that would come from a carrier strike group sunk at the bottom of the Pacific? We have not had to face losses like that as a nation for quite some time. It would actually create a broader societal change that I’m not sure we’ve totally grappled with,” Becca Wasser, the head of the Center for a New American Security’s Gaming Lab and a participant in the wargames, said. “We need to prepare for some of the worst-case scenarios to effectively deter in the Indo-Pacific, and that requires us making changes now.”

According to the CSIS report, America must urgently address its supply of long-range precision weapons, such as the AGM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missiles (LRASMs), prepare to operate from more dispersed air bases, harden shelters for aircraft, and strength bomber forces, among other recommendations.

“If we’re not prepared, it’s going to take a loss for the nation to wake up, and hopefully we’ll have time to correct,” Deptula said.

Added Wasser: “We’re trying to play out the war not because we want the war to happen, but because we’re trying to ensure it does not happen.”

Canada Officially Signs Deal for 88 New F-35 Fighters

Jan. 9, 2023 | By John A. Tirpak

Canada has finalized a deal with Lockheed Martin and engine-maker Pratt & Whitney to buy 88 F-35A fighters after protracted political uncertainty over the purchase. Deliveries to Canada, one of the original F-35 developmental partners, will start in 2026.

With the sale, Canada becomes the 17th nation that is either already equipped with the F-35 or has taken formal steps to acquire it. Switzerland and Germany were the most recent customers, ordering 36 and 35 F-35As last year, respectively.

The on-again, off-again Canadian buy was finalized Jan. 9 after Ottawa announced in 2022 that the F-35 had prevailed in the Future Fighter Capability Project competition. It had previously won another Canadian competition in 2010, but several administrations in Ottawa tabled the purchase and restructured Canada’s combat aviation plans. The acquisition remains a contentious political issue in Canada.

Canada went out to industry with a request for offers in 2017, which also brought proposals on the Boeing F/A-18E/F, Eurofighter Typhoon, the French Dassault Rafale, and the Swedish Saab JAS-39 Gripen, all but the last of which were ruled out or withdrew. The Gripen was eliminated early last year, but Saab said it had been unfairly evaluated.

The Royal Canadian Air Force expects to reach full operational capability for its 88 F-35s between 2032 and 2034. The cost of buying the jets is estimated to be about $15 billion in U.S. dollars, $19 billion in Canadian dollars, and Canada is budgeting a life-cycle cost for the F-35 at $52 billion U.S., $70 billion Canadian. The F-35s will replace Canada’s older F/A-18A/C fleet, which is nearing 40 years in age.

The Canadian defense ministry said the jets will be acquired in a “staggered” fashion. The first batch of aircraft will comprise 16 F-35As.

The sale includes sustainment and training, weapons, spares and facilities construction at two sites in Canada.

“This is the largest investment in the RCAF in the last 30 years,” the Canadian ministry of defense said in a press release, and will include new facilities construction at the Bagotville, Quebec and Cold Lake, Alberta bases. The agreement is the result of an “open, fair and transparent competition,” the ministry said.

“As the rules-based international order is challenged around the world, the F-35 will be essential for protecting Canadians, enhancing Arctic security and national sovereignty, and enabling Canada to meet its NATO, NORAD and other obligations well into the future,” the defense ministry said in its release. “The Government of Canada will continue to do whatever it takes to protect Canadians and make continued, significant investments to give the members of our Canadian Armed Forces the equipment that they need to do their jobs.”

As an original developmental partner in the F-35, Canada invested about $200 million in the program in exchange for participation in its technology and support enterprise. Because of that status, the sale will be managed neither as a straight commercial transaction nor as a Foreign Military Sales program, but a hybrid. The aircraft will still come through the U.S. government, however, under the aegis of the Joint Program Office, which manages the F-35 enterprise for the U.S. and its partners.

The agreement “meets Canada’s requirements and outcomes, including value for money, flexibility, protection against risks, performance, and delivery assurances,” the ministry said. It also touted the economic benefit for Canada, saying the sale “has the potential to contribute over $425 million annually to Canada’s gross domestic product, and close to 3,300 jobs annually for Canadian industry, and value chain partners over a 25-year period (direct and indirect).”

The statement added that defense officials “conducted extensive engagement with suppliers, including Canadian aerospace and defense industries, to ensure that they were well positioned to participate in the procurement.”

Canada’s decision to “procure almost 90 jets underscores the value of the incredible F-35 Lightning II,” Program Executive Officer Lt. Gen. Michael J. Schmidt said in a press statement.

The F-35 “is the best in the world, providing unmatched interoperability to America, Canada, and the additional 15 nations that have selected the fighter. It is a global game-changer. Through power-projection, the F-35 is at the tip of the spear for deterrence. Its forward presence will continue to ensure that potential adversaries choose diplomacy over armed conflict,” he said.

Lockheed said the F-35 operates from 27 bases worldwide, with nine nations operating it “on their home soil.” There are more than 890 fighters now in service.

The JPO inked a deal with Lockheed on Jan. 3 for production Lots 15-17 of the F-35, which will be the first to have the Tech Refresh 3 modifications underlying the Block 4 upgrade of the jet.

Air Force Aims to Get More eVTOL Platforms into Testing, Exercises in 2023

Jan. 9, 2023 | By Christopher Prawdzik

After several years of analysis, experiments, and contract awards, the Air Force’s work with electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft initiative is poised to transition to more field testing in 2023.

Since April 2020, the service has been looking at eVTOL aircraft, including fixed-wing and rotor configurations, through an initiative that combines military and commercial resources to create, test, and field the smaller aircraft, which could have a variety of uses carrying small numbers of personnel or cargo.

Known as AFWERX Agility Prime, the initiative is aimed at creating a new atmosphere of cooperation between government and industry and spurring innovation and development in the eVTOL space. At the cornerstone of this cooperation with industry is AFWERX AFVentures, which operates the Air Force’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology programs.

After more than two years of important milestones, the program and its many partners are poised to take big leaps in 2023.

“Our big focus this year that we need to do for the program is get some of the piloted and larger platforms out in the hands of our test professionals,” Lt. Col. Thomas Meagher, AFWERX Prime division chief, told Air & Space Forces Magazine. “You can get these things into exercises and see what they can do, which serves two purposes: One, it informs us for those use cases … but then, two, it also shows others what they are capable of, which will, in turn, inform Air Force and DOD decisions.”

With its own expertise, resources, and assets, the Pentagon and USAF can support innovative companies, which in turn bring an abundance of high-tech knowledge to the table.

“Just providing some of those things is certainly a key area of collaboration that they’ve found very valuable that the government can do fairly easily,” Meagher said. “It’s been fairly successful and beneficial for them going out the door.”

These strides are not lost on the many commercial industry partners working with the Air Force.

Among eVTOL milestones reached in 2022, Joby Aviation scored a high-altitude mark of more than 11,000 feet and a speed of more than 200 mph. The company previously received approval for military airworthiness in late 2020.

Greg Bowles, Joby Aviation’s head of government and regulatory affairs, said the company looks forward to future collaboration and understands the importance of ensuring U.S. leadership in eVTOL advancement.

“Joby has been a part of Agility Prime since its inception, allowing us access to critical government test facilities and providing funding for us to further prove out the reliability and efficiency of the design,” he said. “The partnership provides valuable support for ongoing development efforts and allows Joby’s partners to see first-hand the potential for this aircraft in their future concept of operations.”

BETA Technologies reached a major milestone as well when two Air Force test pilots sat behind the controls of its ALIA aircraft in March 2022.

“This marked the first time an Airman from the USAF flew an eVTOL aircraft, and signifies the military’s readiness to procure and integrate electric aircraft into its fleet,” said Camron Guthrie of BETA Technologies. “For BETA, the relationship has been deep and collaborative, as it’s enabled us to use DOD resources and expertise to help assess the airworthiness of our designs, optimize our flight test planning, and share lessons learned as we expanded the envelope of our all-electric aircraft.

The ALIA also set additional high marks in 2022, achieving a 255-mile range and a high-endurance flight time of 2 hours, 2 minutes.

Elroy Air is another partner that has seen strides in the past year and is looking forward to future collaboration, which began with a SBIR contract in 2019. Their Chaparral aircraft represents some of the dual potential in the program—while working with the armed forces, Elroy is also slated to begin testing with FedEx in 2023 for business-to-business unmanned deliveries.

Karl Purdy, Elroy Air’s director of business development said flight autonomy, a particular area of interest for the Air Force, is a focus for the company. Right now, phase one of autonomy involves the pilot only interceding when necessary. Moving forward, that technology will expand.

“Phase two will be the aircraft determining options for potential conflicts and informing the operator who can say, ‘Yep, go ahead,’ or ‘No, do this instead,’” he said. “Phase three is the aircraft making all the decisions, notifying the operator of what it’s doing, but has no expectation for the operator to get involved.”

LIFT Aircraft had some recent firsts as well, with the company training the first Air Force cadre to fully operate an eVTOL aircraft. LIFT also received a Phase III Agility Prime contract last year that led to additional testing at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.

“We favor a more aggressive testing approach than others may have in the past with manned aircraft, and the reason is, we can test unmanned first,” Kevin Rustagi, director of business development for LIFT said. While still being safety conscious, LIFT has used that aggressive testing process to gather valuable data, which is why the Air Force has engaged small business, Rustagi added.

“There’s been a lot of interesting back and forth, because there are times when we say, ‘Oh, actually, let’s really slow down and focus on this thing,’ and the Air Force has been very encouraging on that, and then … there are times when we say, ‘All right, let’s go ahead and accelerate here,’ and I think the Air Force has been receptive to that as well,” Rustagi said.

eVTOL — The Hexa, an electric, vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, lifts off during its first test flight at a military airfield July 7 at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The Hexa team completed the aircraft’s flight test via remote control. The aircraft, which used 18 motors and propellors, flew for approximately 10 minutes and reached a height of about 50 feet. U.S. Air Force photo/Samuel King Jr.

Brandon Robinson, CEO of Horizon Aircraft, noted the speed at which the Air Force can onboard some of this technology and also keep its finger on the pulse of the ever-developing industry through this process. Horizon participated in the AFWERX High Speed Vertical Takeoff and Landing Challenge with its Cavorite X-series aircraft in 2022 and were accepted for the program’s Phase 1 investment.

“Ours is unique, insofar that it’s one of the fastest machines in the market,” Robinson said.” It’s also hybrid electric, so it’s not limited to a 100-kilometer range, because it has batteries and a typical gas burning turbine engine on it.”

But with his company actively innovating in areas such as high-voltage electric systems, ducted fan design, hybrid electric systems, and advanced electric motors, some challenges exist.

“People with extensive knowledge in these areas can be very hard to find, and they are in high demand,” he said. “We count ourselves fortunate to have assembled a world class team here at Horizon Aircraft and we will continue to push to bring on world-class talent in 2023.”

As 2023 begins, Air Force and industry officials said they continue to discover new opportunities as the program evolves.

“Whether it’s in the advanced air mobility sector or leveraging the other investment in other areas within aviation, there [are] a lot of new ideas that are out there on the civilian side … that will eventually have certainly some interest in use on the DOD side,” Meagher said. “So, finding where those key areas in industry and investment are that have the potential to make significant impacts down the road is really what the program is about and the approach is about.”

US to Supply Ukraine with Bradleys, New Air Weapons in Massive $3 Billion Aid Package

Jan. 6, 2023 | By Chris Gordon

The Biden administration announced a massive new aid package for Ukraine on Jan. 6, totaling over $3 billion and including armored infantry fighting vehicles, Zuni rockets, and other weapons once considered off-limits.

The Pentagon will send 50 Bradley fighting vehicles, which American defense officials said will help Ukraine push Russian forces back and regain territory in the east and south of the country, as part of a $2.85 billion package from Pentagon stocks. The U.S. will also send $682 million to countries on NATO’s eastern flank, which have depleted their own arsenals to come to Ukraine’s aid. An additional $225 million will be given to Ukraine to “cover wartime requirements” and support the sustainment of previously provided weapons systems, according to the State Department.

The latest package also includes new air capabilities. In a bid to bolster Ukraine’s air force, the U.S. will send 4,000 Zuni rockets, which can be fired at ground targets. The U.S. also recently announced it was sending Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) to Ukraine. Previously, the Pentagon had focused on sending AGM-88 High-speed Anti-Radiation Missiles, which could attack Russian surface-to-air missile sites. However, the Zuni and the JDAMs give Ukraine’s air force a new strike capability.

“In terms of providing Ukraine with capability for their aircraft, it’s actually something we’ve been working on for a while,” Laura Cooper, deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia, said in a briefing at the Pentagon. “This is really just the latest in efforts to help them to make their existing aircraft fleet as effective as possible.”

Cooper said the Zuni rockets could be mounted on fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft.

“It’s-air to-ground, but it’s at fairly close range,” she said.

The Zuni rockets have laser-guided and unguided versions, and it was not immediately clear which type the U.S. was providing. When asked how Ukraine would employ rockets designed for American aircraft onto aircraft designed in the Soviet Union, Cooper cracked a wry smile.

“I trust our engineers, and I definitely trust the Ukrainian engineers,” she said. And “It is something that is possible.”

In the latest effort to help meet Ukraine’s air defense needs, the U.S. will also provide RIM-7 Sea Sparrow missiles that will be modified for use in Ukrainian Buk launchers.

“It is a creative solution that did require some engineering finesse,” Cooper said of using American surface-to-air missiles in Russian-made launchers. “But we’re very pleased that it will work for the Ukrainians.”

Ukraine has come under attack from Russian drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles, and the U.S. and its allies have scrambled to provide better air defenses.

In a move lauded by the Biden administration, Germany recently announced it would provide an advanced PATRIOT battery, a system that costs hundreds of millions of dollars and can help protect key areas of Ukraine as Russia seeks to pummel the country into submission from the air during winter. The U.S. pledged one of its prized PATRIOT systems in December.

“We will continue to support Ukraine’s urgent requirement for air defense capabilities to defend against Russia’s brutal attacks,” Cooper said. “Ukrainian forces are showing an undiminished will to fight to defend their country. Ukraine will continue fighting through the winter with the backing of a large coalition of nations, and we continue to encourage allies and partners to make additional donations to bolster Ukraine’s combat and air defense capabilities.”

The M2A2 Bradley is a tracked vehicle that can carry around half a dozen soldiers into battle. The U.S. will also support the Bradleys with 500 TOW anti-tank missiles and 250,000 rounds of 25-millimeter ammunition, as well as self-propelled artillery for the first time.

The U.S. is still declining to provide tanks to Ukraine, but Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder argued the Bradley is “not a tank, but it’s a tank-killer.”

The latest U.S. package includes:

50 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles with 500 TOW anti-tank missiles and 250,000 rounds of 25mm ammunition;
100 M113 Armored Personnel Carriers;
55 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles (MRAPs);
138 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs);
18 155mm self-propelled Howitzers and 18 ammunition support vehicles;
70,000 155mm artillery rounds;
500 precision-guided 155mm artillery rounds;
1,200 155mm rounds of Remote Anti-Armor Mine (RAAM) Systems;
36 105mm towed Howitzers and 95,000 105mm artillery rounds;
10,000 120mm mortar rounds;
Additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS);
RIM-7 missiles for air defense;
4,000 Zuni aircraft rockets;
Approximately 2,000 anti-armor rockets;
Sniper rifles, machine guns, and ammunition for grenade launchers and small arms;
Claymore anti-personnel munitions;
Night vision devices and optics;
Spare parts and other field equipment.

Tankers in Space? New Report Says ‘True Military Mobility’ Demands a More Agile USSF

Jan. 6, 2023 | By Greg Hadley

Just as the Air Force relies on tankers to refuel fighters and bombers in flight, the Space Force should enable “true military mobility” for its satellites, a new report from the nonprofit Aerospace Corporation says. The report, “Enabling a New Space Paradigm: Harnessing Space Mobility and Logistics,” argues the Space Force should leverage commercial, customized, and military-specific capabilities to increase satellite mobility.

In June 2020, the Space Force released “Spaceopower,” its first doctrine document, which included Space Mobility and Logistics (SM&L) among the five core competencies the service would have. Defined as “the movement and support of military equipment and personnel into the space domain, from the space domain back to Earth, and through the space domain,” space mobility and logistics includes launch capabilities as well as the ability to sustain, update, and recover spacecraft in orbit, the doctrine states.

Achieving that aspiration and “true militarily useful mobility in space,” the new report states, “will take work.”

Using the Defense Department’s definition of mobility, which it defines as the ability of military forces “to move from place to place while retaining the ability to fulfill their primary mission,” the Space Force faces fundamental challenges, say the report’s authors, Harrison Wight, Joshua P. Davis, and Rebecca Reesman. Because propellant for in-orbit movement is limited and existing satellites are not designed for in-flight refueling, mobility is inherently limited.

“Satellites have never been designed to be refueled,” the authors write. “Functioning, costly assets are left to drift in orbit long before the other critical systems fail. Each and every maneuver has to be carefully planned so as to not prematurely deplete the spacecraft’s precious propellant.” By comparison, Navy ships and Air Force planes can be refueled while underway.

“Business as usual for the military space domain is severely limited in the inclusion of SM&L capabilities because the current understanding begins and ends with the launch vehicle,” the authors write. “In a full-scope SM&L implementation, key benefits can only be realized after vehicle separation.”

In November 2021, the Space Force began soliciting and funding ideas for mitigating orbital debris and other aspects of on-orbit servicing, assembly, and manufacturing through SpaceWERX, its innovation arm. In April 2022, Space Systems Command revealed plans for an experiment for refueling small satellites in geostationary orbit. And in September, SSC held an industry day to see what the commercial sector is working on for assured access to space, including on-orbit servicing, maneuver, and debris removal.

In a nod to the “Spacepower” document, then-Brig. Gen. Stephen Purdy, commander of Space Systems Command’s Assured Access to Space Directorate, told attendees at an industry conference in October that “elements of that have actually been in the Space Force doctrine since the beginning,” according to C4ISRNet.

But In the Space Force’s first few years, “we’ve had no operational units do it, no acquisition programs. It’s not been something that we’ve had a chance to get to,” Purdy reportedly said.

Now, as interest in the area grows, “it is not a question of if but how SM&L capabilities should be acquired and fielded,” the authors of the report say. They highlighted six areas the Space Force should address in the future:

Inspection
Orbit Modification
Materiel Logistics
Refueling
Client Augmentation
Active Debris Mitigation

“Key to understanding these activities is recognizing one spacecraft will be serviced by another, just as B-52 bombers are refueled by KC-135s,” the report states.

The Space Force doesn’t need to build up its own capabilities in each area, however, but can “leverage the capabilities the commercial sector.” The Space Force can leverage emerging commercial expertise in materiel logistics, including launch capabilities and pre-positioned resources and depots in space, and it could modify orbits by moving satellites at different stages in their life cycles. But debris mitigation and client augmentation—upgrading or repairing satellites in orbit—may require heavier direct Space Force investment to develop such capabilities.

“Though additional optimization could be done to figure out strategies and approaches for more specific applications, the least optimal choice is to do nothing at all,” the authors write. “SM&L is required in order to transform the USSF into a 21st century space warfighting force.”

No Longer Protected by Congress, Air Force RC-26 Fleet Heading to the Boneyard

Jan. 6, 2023 | By Chris Gordon

The Air National Guard is retiring its entire fleet of 11 RC-26 Condors, the Air Force said Jan. 6. The twin-prop plane had an often under-the-radar but sometimes controversial role as a reconnaissance aircraft used for both counterdrug and homeland security missions.

A converted civilian airliner, the aircraft attracted unwanted attention several times recently, and for years the Department of Defense has sought to retire the aircraft in favor of cheaper platforms such as drones.

Those efforts had been blocked by advocates on Capitol Hill, most vocally former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), an RC-26 pilot in the Air National Guard. In both the 2020 and 2021 National Defense Authorization Acts, there were provisions preventing the Air Force from using funds to retire the Condor.

No such provision made it into the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, though, and Air Force said that without a need or funding for the aircraft, the plane will finally be out of service.

“There are no Air Force specific RC-26B validated requirements nor dedicated funding to support sustainment of the weapons system,” an Air Force spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

The Wisconsin Air National Guard concluded operations on Dec. 28, it announced. Representatives for the Air National Guard did not say whether all RC-26 operations have ceased—Alabama, Arizona, California, Iowa, Mississippi, New Mexico, Texas, West Virginia, and Washington all have the aircraft as well.

The Air Force said all 11 RC-26 aircraft will head to the Boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz.

While the Air Force sees no requirements for the RC-26, the Wisconsin National Guard touted the aircraft’s usefulness in its release.

“Officers, civilians, suspects, families and regular citizens who have no idea that the reason that they are alive is because those guys were experts at their jobs, helped chase down and arrest drug dealers, in ways that could not have been done in any other platform,” Lt. Col. Benjamin West, the Wisconsin Air National Guard’s program manager, said in a statement.

“Having spent a large time of my policing career in narcotics work, I can tell you that this mission saves people’s lives,” added Army Col. Paul Felician, director of the Wisconsin National Guard’s counterdrug program. “The stuff that this aircraft enabled law enforcement to do took more drugs off the street and kept people safe from having to go into the direct risk of harm—it’s a sad day to see it go away.”

But the RC-26’s use in law enforcement missions was questionable at times, according to the Air Force’s own accounting. The aircraft monitored protests and relayed information to law enforcement in Minnesota, Arizona, California, and Washington, D.C. after the murder of George Floyd in police custody the summer of 2020. Congressional concerns prompted an Air Force Inspector General investigation, which concluded that the National Guard Bureau erred in its deployment of RC-26s in some cases.

The aircraft were directed to fly “overhead imagery Incident Awareness and Assessment (IAA) missions in support of law enforcement and/or National Guard units responding to destruction of property and violence” after Floyd’s murder in 2020, the report said.

“Properly approved missions can support civilian law enforcement, but there is no scenario in which it is acceptable or permissible to use DOD assets to deter demonstrations and protests, assuming they remain lawful,” the report said.

The National Guard Bureau didn’t have “a clear authorization” approved by civilian leaders before RC-26s began flying the missions, according to the IG report, and some of the missions over protests were, in the inspector general’s view, implausibly done for “training” purposes.

Air National Guard leaders have said the platform should be retired because cheaper platforms such as drones could fulfill counternarcotics and homeland security functions. Lt. Gen. Michael A. Loh, Air National Guard director, said the cost to keep RC-26 in the fleet—$30 million per year—could be used to field and invest in newer systems.

“It’s an old aircraft, and there’s current language right now that says I can’t retire that fleet or even expend money to prepare to retire that fleet,” Loh said in 2021. “And so, each year, I’m spending millions of dollars to keep a fleet alive that quite frankly has run its useful life, and I need to actually get out of those to get into something new.

“We’ve actually had better technologies out there to take care of the mission, so even if I needed to do the mission today, I can [do] it with better technologies that are cheaper to operate,” Loh said at the time.

This is the First-Ever ANG Flight Nurse to Earn Distinguished Flying Cross

Jan. 6, 2023 | By Greg Hadley

A Minnesota Air National Guard flight nurse who responded to a deadly suicide bombing in the midst of the Afghanistan evacuation in August 2021 is set to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross on Jan. 7.

Maj. Katie Lunning of the 133rd Airlift Wing will be the first Air National Guard nurse ever to be awarded the DFC, the military’s fourth-highest award for heroism.

Lunning was a captain deployed to Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, when the noncombatant evacuation from Kabul, Afghanistan, began. The mission resuced thousands of Afghan civilians, foreign nationals, and U.S. personnel fleeing the advancing Taliban as the Afghan government collapsed. Lunning and her team at Al Udeid set up a ground aid station and helped treat the flow of civilians arriving in Qatar, according to an Air Force release from November 2021. But it wasn’t long before Lunning and her CCATT teammates were mobilized to fly to Kabul on a C-17.

“We didn’t know what to expect,” she said in the release. “On the flights to Kabul, we were wearing protective helmets and vests. The intelligence brief was concerning, and you could feel that everyone was on alert.”

They arrived Aug. 26 in Kabul, the same day a suicide bomb killed 13 U.S. service members and dozens of Afghans, and injuring hundreds of others.

“We were pulling them out as they are getting injured. … We were the first CCATT in,” Lunning recalled in a Jan. 3 press release. “It was the largest medical evacuation out of that coalition hospital ever, and very dangerous on the ground. We had to leave the airplane to go get our patients…. We took injured Marines and Afghan civilians who really weren’t flight worthy, but there was no choice. We just had to get them out of there. So, a lot of medical events occurred on the airplane, but we ended up being able to safely deliver everybody to Landstuhl, Germany [for further medical care].”

A few days later, Lunning was on the last convoy of C-17s to fly out of Afghanistan, officially ending the U.S. presence there.

Air Force leaders have praised Lunning and other CCATT medical professionals for their work during the Afghanistan evacuation, when they created “flying hospitals” to treat sick and wounded Afghans, delivered babies en route, and treated life-threatening injuries. A number of other medical professionals have been honored with the Distinguished Flying Cross in recent months, as Air Mobility Command and the Air National Guard honor Airmen involved in the operation, but Lunning is the first Guard flight nurse among them.

The entire crew of MOOSE 98, a C-17 flight that brought in a critical care air transport team on Aug. 26, was honored at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., in December.

Tech. Sgt. Katherine Rosa Orellana, a critical care and trauma team respiratory therapist who also responded to the suicide bombing was decorated by Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. In November.

Capt. Jedd Dillman, a flight nurse, and Master Sgt. Matthew Newman, a respiratory therapist, were the first aeromedical evacuation Airmen in AMC history to receive the DFC. And Capt. Leslie Green, also a flight nurse, received the award at Joint Base Charleston, S.C.

Including Lunning, the Air Force has now awarded 99 Distinguished Flying Cross medals for actions during the Afghanistan airlift mission.